walkhighlands

This forum is for general discussion about walking and scrambling... If writing a report or sharing your experiences from a route, please use the other boards.

car park charges

car park charges


Postby Caberfeidh » Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:32 am

User avatar
Caberfeidh
Stravaiging
 
Posts: 8369
Joined: Feb 5, 2009

Re: car park charges

Postby BlackPanther » Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:01 pm

Great news! We'll save some money! :D

On a serious note, last week we talked about the idea of car park charges with my husband's parents who live in Cannich and they walk in Glen Affric regularly. They agreed with us that if charges are forced in, people will just park along the roadside rather than on the car park. Maybe it would be a better idea to place a donation box there... I don't know, but I'm glad the plan was suspended.
User avatar
BlackPanther
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 3839
Munros:268   Corbetts:182
Fionas:136   
Sub 2000:75   
Joined: Nov 2, 2010
Location: Beauly, Inverness-shire

Re: car park charges

Postby Caberfeidh » Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:03 pm

BlackPanther wrote:Maybe it would be a better idea to place a donation box there...


Good idea - people are often happy to give a donation, but annoyed at being forced to pay.
User avatar
Caberfeidh
Stravaiging
 
Posts: 8369
Joined: Feb 5, 2009

Re: car park charges

Postby magicdin » Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:03 pm

Looks like the FCS have listened to common sense - not usual nowadays
User avatar
magicdin
Rambler
 
Posts: 2678
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:110   Donalds:23
Sub 2000:17   Hewitts:24
Wainwrights:10   Islands:28
Joined: Aug 11, 2008

Re: car park charges

Postby magicdin » Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:05 pm

Caberfeidh wrote:
BlackPanther wrote:Maybe it would be a better idea to place a donation box there...


Good idea - people are often happy to give a donation, but annoyed at being forced to pay.


As long as they make any donation box very secure - remember the cairn at the foot of The Cobbler path
User avatar
magicdin
Rambler
 
Posts: 2678
Munros:282   Corbetts:222
Fionas:110   Donalds:23
Sub 2000:17   Hewitts:24
Wainwrights:10   Islands:28
Joined: Aug 11, 2008

Re: car park charges

Postby NickyRannoch » Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:38 pm

is it just me who treats these as optional donations anyway? ill usually pay if i have it on me but if i dont i dont worry about it.
User avatar
NickyRannoch
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1739
Munros:224   Corbetts:3
Fionas:4   Donalds:1
Sub 2000:9   
Islands:17
Joined: Aug 21, 2009
Location: Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire

Re: car park charges

Postby basscadet » Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:27 pm

We have often been confused by the charges.. You can pay for the day you arrive, but then if you are heading off for a few days, there is no way to pay for all the days you will be away, and it is unclear if you have to...
I'm not really opposed to paying if the money would be spent in the area - maintaining bridges/footpaths for instance. Most of the car parks are only £2 anyway, which seems pretty mean to oppose if you ask me, especially if the car is full..
User avatar
basscadet
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 2778
Munros:84   Corbetts:52
Fionas:18   Donalds:8
Sub 2000:34   Hewitts:13
Wainwrights:17   Islands:21
Joined: Dec 1, 2011
Location: Edinburgh

Re: car park charges

Postby morag1 » Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:37 pm

I dont really mind paying a small amount such as £2-£3 for the car park. Lets face it, most people pay far more than that for their petrol so if you are prepared to pay £30-£40 travelling to wherever its not unreasonable to pay a small amount for the upkeep of the car park, mountain paths, information boards, toilets etc
morag1
 

Re: car park charges

Postby LeithySuburbs » Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:48 pm

NickyRannoch wrote:is it just me who treats these as optional donations anyway? ill usually pay if i have it on me but if i dont i dont worry about it.


No, not just you. I usually don't mind contributing if my taxes have not already (FC, Crown Estates etc.) and if I have change...
User avatar
LeithySuburbs
Ambler
 
Posts: 1965
Munros:259   Corbetts:56
Fionas:29   Donalds:33
Sub 2000:41   Hewitts:14
Wainwrights:23   Islands:13
Joined: Feb 19, 2009
Location: Inverness

Re: car park charges

Postby NickyRannoch » Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:28 pm

morag1 wrote:I dont really mind paying a small amount such as £2-£3 for the car park. Lets face it, most people pay far more than that for their petrol so if you are prepared to pay £30-£40 travelling to wherever its not unreasonable to pay a small amount for the upkeep of the car park, mountain paths, information boards, toilets etc



i suppose that depends if you want manicured paths, information boards and toilets. i cant say when they are not there i have ever missed them.

i am also wary about publically funded bodies putting on additional usage charges to provide services they are paid to provide without first publically consulting on that change.

my final point would be are the charges going directly to the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities you are paying for or do they go towards the general finances of the organisation?
User avatar
NickyRannoch
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 1739
Munros:224   Corbetts:3
Fionas:4   Donalds:1
Sub 2000:9   
Islands:17
Joined: Aug 21, 2009
Location: Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire

Re: car park charges

Postby dacky » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:51 am

£2 is all well and good, but in most places in the lake district it is at least £5, usually more like £8. Same with Snowdonia.

People do just start dumping cars anywhere they can and it can make things a right pain in the arse to get around single track.

It is strange, I'm spitting feathers if I have to pay £5 to park but will happily put that in a NT or MTR collection tin.
dacky
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 140
Munros:31   Corbetts:2
Fionas:3   
Hewitts:114
Wainwrights:153   
Joined: Jun 21, 2011
Location: Warrington

Re: car park charges

Postby Kevin29035 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 1:58 am

dacky wrote:£2 is all well and good, but in most places in the lake district it is at least £5, usually more like £8. Same with Snowdonia.

Sure but this isn't England or Wales.
User avatar
Kevin29035
 
Posts: 1221
Munros:173   Corbetts:173
Fionas:73   Donalds:17
Sub 2000:92   Hewitts:8
Joined: Sep 13, 2008
Location: Glasgow

Re: car park charges

Postby ChrisW » Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:06 am

Sarah and I have often commented on our local mountain area, Kananaskis. The roads and car parks are snow ploughed twice a day (and more if needed) there are toilet blocks in almost every car park that are clean and well maintained, there are information boards everywhere, trail signs, several large staffed visitor centres giving away free trail maps/info, and ranger patrols 24/7....there are no charges for entering Kananaskis nor for parking in any of their car parks :shock:
User avatar
ChrisW
Rambler
 
Posts: 4941
Munros:18   Corbetts:5
Fionas:3   
Sub 2000:6   
Joined: Jan 25, 2011
Location: Cochrane- Alberta - Canada

Re: car park charges

Postby chrisoff » Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:41 pm

They're installing the pay points and putting up signage at Scolty in Banchory just now with charges set to come in from April. So it looks like this is something they're bringing in across a lot of busy car parks.

Incidentally this just reminded me that the forestry commission website used to be brilliant. You could type in a postcode and it would tell you all the nearby car parks and forest entrances, which trails were there and their status (open or closed). Most had detailed descriptions and maps. Now it barely has any of the car parks and hardly mentions any of the forests in my local area. Apparently near Banchory there is only Scolty... anyone know why they changed it?
chrisoff
Mountaineer
 
Posts: 51
Munros:6   Corbetts:3
Fionas:2   
Sub 2000:3   
Joined: Jan 4, 2010
Location: Banchory

Re: car park charges

Postby wrighty666 » Thu Mar 15, 2012 11:23 pm

Walked up snowdon along the PYG track on monday. Parked at the Pen-y-pass carpark and its a whopping £10 to park all day, so I dont think people should complain too much about paying just a couple quid parking. Its only a tiny amount compared to what we're all willing to pay for our boots, coats and other equipment!
wrighty666
Backpacker
 
Posts: 31
Joined: Jul 14, 2011
Location: Nottingham

Next



Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to General discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Caberfeidh, pp49 and 12 guests